On The Rio Grande: Ranching Then and Now

Private Chapel

To most North Americans the Rio Grande in its southmost leg is the border between Mexico and the U.S. Most of us rarely consider the fact that long before it was an international border the river was a free-flowing stream running through the Spanish province of Nuevo Santander. In the agricultural community of Progreso, part of Hidalgo County, we learned about Toluca Ranch from an old friend, Dr. Blandina (Bambi) Cárdenas and her close friend, Rafael Flores, who introduced us to Patti Fernández Mayers and Imelda Guerra. The latter two are cousins descendants of the founding Spanish family that once owned the 10,000 acre Toluca Ranch. We spent the better part of the afternoon with Bambi, Patti, Imelda and Rafael listening to stories of the family's history in the area and gawking at the Italianate architecture of the chapel and ancestral home of the Fernández family. The property is registered in the National Register of Historic Places.

It is unique in that it includes a private church built by the family and which is used today only for ceremonial occasions such as weddings, baptisms and funerals. It has no official connection to any denomination although the family is Catholic.

Fernández Family Home

The church and the home are both constructed of bricks made on the property using clay from the nearby banks of the Rio Grande. As late as the early 20th century marauding bandits attacked the home. Soldiers were brought in to help protect the family and several of them were killed in encounters with the bandits. Border violence, it seems, is not new to this area.

Today Rancho Toluca sits amidst fields of onions called "1015 onions " because they are usually planted around the middle of October. These are sweet onions that rival the better known Vidalia. They are said to make a delicious French onion soup. For those of you who may wish to visit Rancho Toluca the road leading to it is also known as Farm to Market Road Number 1015. Get it?

Toluca Ranch represents the early Spanish influence on ranching. Although the acreage was large there was no irrigation and raising cattle here was difficult since the flood water brush was thick and difficult to navigate many cows simply got lost and became wild.

After the visit to Toluca Ranch our friends, Bambi and Rafael, treated us to a regional delicacy: cabrito al pastor or baby goat at El Pastor Restaurant in McAllen. Yet another wonderful meal on the Rio Grande.

We are thoroughly enjoying our venture along the Rio Grande including its regional cuisine.

This section of the river is known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley. In reality, it is not a valley, but a flood plain. We visited what was once a smaller ranch that had been settled by Nathaniel Jackson. He arrived here from Alabama around 1872. Although he owned a plantation and slaves he married Matilda Hicks, a black woman, and settled here with her. Together they gave shelter and food to other freed slaves.

The First Spanish Language Methodist
Church in the Valley

The Jacksons bought 5,000 acres of land a small part of which they donated to construct a protestant church which was to become the first Spanish language Methodist church in the region. A small cemetery located next door to the church serves as the burial grounds for much of the Jackson family.

Jackson Family Burial Ground

In contrast to the difficult ranching conditions of the 17th and 18th centuries carefully monitored by computers, nutritionists and veterinarians. J & R like other ranches of its type buys calves in the four to five hundred pound range then feed them carefully mixed grain and other products to double their weight. Many of the cows in these feed lots are owned by investors who pay J & R for fattening their calves. A given group of cattle reach optimum weight in about six months of carefully controlled feeding. At that point they are loaded on 18 wheeler trucks and delivered to the slaughter houses that buy them. State inspectors visit these lots on a regular basis to ensure that the conditions for feeding and treating the cattle meet state and federal standards.